Hospital rankings don't take patient volume into account, study finds

Researchers reported in the Archives of Surgery that HealthGrades and U.S. News & World Report fail to consider patient volume in their lists of top-performing hospitals, which when accounted for, would help show that the top-ranked hospitals have little to no edge over other facilities. "Because these ratings list only a selected number of best hospitals, these consumer aids may dissuade patients from seeking care at closer high-volume, equal-quality hospitals," the researchers reported.